The Maltese government has not given the Open Arms vessel permission to enter Maltese territorial waters, Italian news outlet TGCom24 reports.
The Open Arms vessel, run by the NGO Ong Proactiva, currently has 121 migrants on board – including 4 babies, 2 of whom are nine-month-old twins. The ship has been at sea for a number of days.
The ship is currently 60 miles west of Malta, and around 30 miles east of Lampedusa.
53 of adults and two children were picked up first on Thursday, after which another 69 were taken on board in a separate rescue. Two pregnant women were disembarked on Saturday.
32 of those onboard are reportedly minors.
The founder of the orgnisation, Oscar Camps, has called for a solution similar to that of the Alan Kurdi, the German ship that recently disembarked 40 migrants in Malta on the condition that they would be transported to other European nations.
